Child care storage having steam sterilizing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A child care storage having a steam sterilizing apparatus, wherein the steam sterilizing apparatus includes an outer tub defined by walls of a steam sterilizing compartment; a hollow upstanding coupling member installed on the center bottom of the outer tub and having an interlocking hole formed at its top; an inner tub inserted inside the outer tub for accommodating infant accessories therein, the inner tub having a reception hole formed at its bottom center and a latch part formed along the circumference of its bottom center; an evaporation vessel having a flange along its circumference, the flange being coupled to the latch part of the inner tub; a flat-type heater installed under a rear bottom surface of the evaporation vessel; and a supporting plate for placing the flat-type heater thereon.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a child care storage having a steamsterilizing apparatus, and, more particularly, to a child care storagehaving a steam sterilizing apparatus capable of being easily attachableand detachable for cleaning and/or repair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, with a rise in the standard of living, there have beenincreasing demands for diversified types of special-purposerefrigerators, for example, a kimchi refrigerator for the ripening ofkimchi, a cosmetic cooler for storing cosmetics at a low temperature andso forth.

Though such various types of special-purpose refrigerators have beendeveloped, developments have rarely been made upon a storage apparatusfor an exclusive use in baby or child care.

If infant food or infant products such as powdered milk, breast milk,medicine and the like are stored in a conventional householdrefrigerator, they will be soaked with the odors of other foods storedin the refrigerator. As a result, the quality of the infant food or theinfant products will be deteriorated and, even worse, hygienic problemsmay be resulted.

Therefore, there is a need to develop a multi-functional child carestorage including a plurality of functional compartments for storing ortreating infant food or infant products in various ways.

In order to meet the need, there has been suggested a multi-functionalchild care storage, for example, which is disclosed in a co-pending,commonly owned application, International Application No.PCT/KR2006/000575 filed on Feb. 21, 2006, entitled ‘MULTI-FUNCTIONALCHILD CARE STORAGE’, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Themulti-functional child care storage has a plurality of functionalcompartments. Among them, a steam sterilizing compartment accommodatesinfant products such as a baby bottle, a handkerchief, a gauze, a toyand so forth, and sterilizes these by hot steam.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the steam sterilizing compartment of themulti-functional child care storage. The steam sterilizing compartment140 has a door 143 at its top by being closed and opened to define asterilizing space 141, and a steam sterilizing unit 142 to disinfect thesterilizing space 141 by hot steam.

The steam sterilizing unit 142 is placed in the steam sterilizingcompartment 140 such that it closely fits on the surface of walls 112.Moreover, the steam sterilizing unit 142 includes a rack holder 142 dhaving a plurality of steam passage holes 142 f thereon; an evaporationvessel 142 a molded from stainless steel or the like, which is placedbelow the rack holder 142 d and accommodates water therein; a heater 142b placed underneath the evaporation vessel 142 a to uniformly heat theevaporation vessel 142 a and vaporize water within the evaporationvessel 142 a into the sterilizing space 141; a steam outlet 142 cincorporated with the door 143 for discharging steam from thesterilizing space 141; a cover 142 i mounted on the steam outlet 142 cfor preventing a user from injuries caused by releasing steam, andforcibly emitting hot steam toward the rear thereof; a rack 142 e onwhich a plurality of upstanding supports 142 g are mounted to receivethe infant accessory thereon, further having steam passage holes 142 jwhich are formed at its bottom.

Therefore, as described above, it is possible to sterilize the babybottle 1 stored in the sterilizing space 141 by using hot steamgenerated by the steam sterilizing unit 142.

Meanwhile, in the steam sterilizing compartment 140, since theevaporation vessel 142 a and the rack holder 142 d become contaminatedgradually in use, they are needed to be cleaned often.

However, there is a drawback that it is difficult to disassemble theevaporation vessel 142 a from the steam sterilizing compartment 140.

Accordingly, it is preferable that the rack holder 142 d and theevaporation vessel 142 a are allowed to be easily released for cleaningand/or repair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a childcare storage having a steam sterilizing apparatus capable of beingattachable and detachable for ease cleaning and/or repair.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a child care storage having a steam sterilizingapparatus, wherein the steam sterilizing apparatus including an outertub defined by walls of a steam sterilizing compartment; a hollowupstanding coupling member installed on the center bottom of the outertub and having an interlocking hole formed at its top; an inner tubinserted inside the outer tub for accommodating infant accessoriesand/or the like therein, the inner tub having a reception hole formed atits bottom center and a latch part formed along the circumference of itsbottom center; an evaporation vessel having a flange along itscircumference, wherein the flange is coupled to the latch part of theinner tub; a flat-type heater installed under a rear bottom surface ofthe evaporation vessel; and a supporting plate for placing the flat-typeheater thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the flowing description of preferred embodimentsgiven in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional front elevation view of a steam sterilizingcompartment incorporated in a conventional child care storage;

FIG. 2 is an exploded vertical sectional view of a steam sterilizingapparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an assembled vertical sectional view of a steam sterilizingapparatus in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the assembly of the inner tub andthe outer tub in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, there are shown an exploded verticalsectional view of a steam sterilizing apparatus; and an assembledvertical sectional view of a steam sterilizing apparatus.

As shown in these figures, the steam sterilizing apparatus 200 includesan outer tub 210 defined by walls of a steam sterilizing compartment, aninner tub 220 inserted into the outer tub 210, the inner tub 220 havinga reception hole 220 a formed at its bottom center, an evaporationvessel 240 containing water therein and coupled through the receptionhole 220 a at the bottom center of the inner tub 220, and a flat-typeheater 250 located under the evaporation vessel 240 for heatinguniformly the evaporation vessel 240 to generate hot steam.

The inner tub 220 is provided with a latch part 222 formed along itsbottom center with the reception hole 220 a, the latch part 222extending downward and being upward. The evaporation vessel 240 isprovided with a flange 242 formed along its outer circumference, theflange extending outward and being then bent downward, such that theflange 242 of the evaporation vessel 240 is coupled to the latch part222 of the inner tub 220. Further, a packing element 230 such as asilicon packing element, is provided between the flange 242 of theevaporation vessel 240 and the latch part 222 of the inner tub 220,thereby, enabling to seal firmly between the latch 222 and the flange242.

Also, a grip 244 is provided on the evaporation vessel 240 for thepurpose of lifting upward the evaporation vessel 240 from the inner tub220. And, an elastic projection 246 extends downwardly from theundersurface of the evaporation vessel 240.

In addition, a flat-type heater 250 is in contact with the undersurfaceof the evaporation vessel 240 and is supported on a supporting plate252. The supporting plate 252 is provided with a stepped flange beingoutwardly extended. In addition, a concave portion 254 is formed at thelower surface of the flange of the supporting plate 252.

Further, an aperture or a through hole (not shown) is formed at thecenter of the flat-typed heater 250 and the supporting plate 252 so thatthe elastic projection 246 of the evaporation vessel 240 passes throughthe aperture or a through hole of the flat-type heater. Here, theflat-type heater 250 can be desirably U-shaped. Accordingly, the elasticprojection 246 of the evaporation vessel 240 can also pass through theflat-type heater 250.

Further, a plurality of posts 270 are mounted on the inner bottom of theouter tub 210, on which the supporting plate 252 is mounted, and ahollow upstanding coupling member 280 is mounted on a bottom center ofthe outer tub 210. At a top of the hollow upstanding coupling member280, and interlocking hole 280 a is formed at a corresponding locationto an elastic projection 246 so that the lower end of the elasticprojection 246 is elastically fit into the interlocking hole 280 a,thereby enabling elastic projection 246 to easily pass through theinterlocking hole 280 a and remove therefrom.

And, a plurality of resilient springs 260 are interposed in theircorresponding upstanding supports 270 respectively, in order to providea resilient force upwardly to the supporting plate 252.

Moreover, referring to FIG. 4, the inner tub 220 and the outer tub 210have cylindrical shapes with stepped parts 220S and 210S in alongitudinal direction, respectively. Furthermore, the inner tub 220 andthe outer tub 210 (particularly, the inner surface of the outer tub 210)are made flexible. Thus, when the inner tub 220 is inserted into theouter tub 210, by rotating the inner tub 220 to a predetermineddirection, e.g., anti-clockwise direction as indicated by an arrow inFIG. 4, the inner tub 220 can be fit closely with the inner surface ofthe outer tub 210 by the associated help of the stepped parts 220S and210S. The reason why the inner tub 220 should be firmly held by theouter tub 210 is to prevent the infant accessories from being fall downduring a sterilizing operation, and to reduce noise and damage generatedby the vibration.

Following is a description for assembling the steam sterilizingapparatus 200.

First of all, each resilient spring 260 is received by its correspondingupstanding support 270 and then, the flat-type heater 250 is mounted onthe supporting plate 252 so that the concave portion 254 of thesupporting plates 252 is resiliently held by the resilient spring 260.

Meanwhile, the evaporation vessel 240 is assembled by inserted into theinner tub 220 through the reception hole 220 a. At this time, the flange242 of the evaporation vessel 240 is coupled to latch part 222 of theinner tub 220, whereby they are firmly sealed by the packing element 230therebetween.

After that, the inner tub 220 having the evaporation vessel 240 isfitted closely in the outer tub 210 at the predetermined position. Atthis time, as soon as the elastic projection 246 passes through theflat-type heater 250 and then elastically changes its shape within theinterlocking hole 280 a, the elastic projection 246 is coupled to thehollow upstanding coupling member 280 by means of small-sized rollers282. Therefore, the bottom of the evaporation vessel 240 can becomeclosely contact with the upper surface of the flat-type heater 250.Accordingly, resilient springs 260 are compressed downwardly a littleand then, the inner tub 220 is firmly held by the outer tub 210 by meansof rotating the inner tub 220 in a predetermined direction.

Since the evaporation vessel 240 is caught by the hollow upstandingcoupling member 280 and further, the flat-type heater 250 is supportedupwardly by a plurality of compressed resilient springs 260, theevaporation vessel 240 is attachably mounted on flat-type heater 250.Accordingly, it is possible to reliably seal between the evaporationvessel 240 and the flat-type heater 250, and to easily assemble thesteam sterilizing apparatus 200.

Meanwhile, since the evaporation vessel 240 and the inner tub 220 becomecontaminated gradually in use, they are needed to be cleaned. To do it,first of all, by pulling the grip 244 of the evaporation vessel 240, theelastic projection 246 is released from the interlocking hole 280 a dueto its elastic deformation. Simultaneously, the flange 242 of theevaporation vessel 240 is uncoupled from the latch part 222 of the innertub 220. As a result, the evaporation vessel 240 is separated from theflat-type heater 250.

Thereafter, in order to lift upward from the outer tub 210, the innertub 220 is rotated to the outer tub 210 in a direction opposite to thedirection of coupling. As a result, the flat-type heater 250 is exposedfor cleaning or repairing. Accordingly, a user can conveniently wash theinner tub 220, the evaporation vessel 240 and the flat-type heater 250.

In addition, there is a pair of small-sized rollers 282 at a locationwhere the interlocking hole 280 a is formed in the hollow upstandingcoupling member 280. The rollers 282 enable the elastic projection 246to smoothly slide through the interlocking hole 280 a.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

1. A child care storage having a steam sterilizing apparatus, whereinthe steam sterilizing apparatus comprises: an outer tub defined by wallsof a steam sterilizing compartment; a hollow upstanding coupling memberinstalled on the center bottom of the outer tub and having aninterlocking hole formed at its top; an inner tub inserted inside theouter tub for accommodating infant accessories and/or the like therein,the inner tub having a reception hole formed at its bottom center and alatch part formed along the circumference of its bottom center; anevaporation vessel having a flange along its circumference, wherein theflange is coupled to the latch part of the inner tub; a flat-type heaterinstalled under a rear bottom surface of the evaporation vessel; and asupporting plate for placing the flat-type heater thereon.
 2. The childcare storage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner tub includes apacking element, the packing element being located between the flangeand the latch part in order to closely seal with the evaporation vessel.3. The child care storage as claimed in claim 1, further comprising aplurality of springs interposed in their corresponding upstandingsupports, respectively, in order to provide a resilient force upwardlyto the supporting plate, whereby the bottom of the evaporation vesselbecomes closely contact with the upper surface of the flat-type heater.4. The child care storage as claimed in claim 3, wherein the flat-typeheater has a through hole formed at the center thereof; and wherein theevaporation vessel has an elastic projection downwardly formed at rearsurface of the evaporation vessel, the elastic projection passingthrough the through hole and then being inserted into the interlockinghole.
 5. The child care storage as claimed in claim 1, wherein theevaporation vessel has a grip provided on an inner center bottomthereof, the grip upwardly allows the evaporation vessel to bedisassembled from the inner tub.
 6. The child care storage as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the supporting plate has a plurality of concaveportions formed at rear surface thereof on which the upstanding supportsis arranged.
 7. The child care storage as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe hollow upstanding coupling member includes a number of rollersinstalled at a location where the interlocking hole is formed, therollers enabling the elastic projection to smoothly slide through theinterlocking hole.